Like a lot of people who tried to run once or twice before it really caught on, I like to think that I’ve run two “first” 5Ks. I was a senior in high school the first time I started running, and I was trying to lose weight to fit into my prom dress. It worked; I lost probably 10 or 15 pounds and was able to wear the dress, but I didn’t keep running through that post-high school summer.
The running I did do was either inside on the treadmill, where I would go for 30 or 45 minutes a few times a week, never really getting faster, or outside, where I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could, then walked around until I gathered my breath and then sprinted off again as if I were being chased by a bear. Repeat ad nauseum. Looking back now, I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to just slow down or even to look online for tips for beginning to run.